Sea and Sky
by silent sea maiden
Summary: When Aladdin is ambushed and thrown into the sea by palace guards, a strange young woman rescues him. This could be the start of a unique friendship, or maybe even something greater...oneshot.


I found this piece when I was flipping through my journal - my first ever crossover! Some background to this story: Aladdin is really and truly Prince Ali. He was born into this position; he has not found Genie. He is currently betrothed to Princess Jasmine but has only just met her today.

* * *

Prince Ali smiled. Tonight had been…_magical _he thought, affectionately rubbing the carpet beneath him. Maybe this arranged marriage to princess Jasmine wouldn't be so bad after all. She seemed to be warming up to him, and he was pretty sure that he would like her. She was smart, funny, and, well, beautiful. Ali couldn't deny that her figure was as attractive as her personality.

With a contented sigh, he laid back on carpet as it began floating towards the ground. He gazed at the stars, happy that this betrothal was finally going right. He did not have much time to enjoy the sensation, however. Without warning a hand eclipsed his vision and his body hit the damp grass with a muffled thud. Ali struggled to break free but was quickly forced to his knees with his arms pinned against his sides. He caught a quick glance of the captain of the palace guard before he was hit on the head and knew no more.

* * *

Ali woke to feel sun on his face and…sand? beneath him. He was also aware of an impossibly wonderful sound emanating from above him. To call it beautiful would be an insult. This was joy and desire in perfect harmony, swelling to a crescendo so great that the notes seemed to take physical form and rush over him in a wave of warmth. His groggy mind could not make out the words of the song, and he wondered if he was dreaming.

Forcing his eyes open he squinted into a halo of sunlight. These beams served to frame a young woman's face. She must be the singer. Ali wondered who she was that she could give voice to the mysterious and unearthly.

Her singing cut off abruptly when she saw his open eyes, and she disappeared from sight. Ali propped himself up on his elbows and called "Wait!" or tried to, at least. Midway through his cry he had to cough up a mouthful of salt water. That's when he noticed that he was completely drenched, lying just a few feet from the ocean. An outcropping of rock stood a few yards offshore, which he assumed was where the girl was now hiding.

Ali tried to sit up and discovered that his hands were bound behind his back. His ankles were also chained together and attached to a weight. He struggled with his bonds only a moment before giving up. "Hey" he addressed the rocks "um…if you're still there, could you please come back? I can't get out of this myself."

There was a long pause during which Ali worried that she was truly gone. He opened his mouth to call out again when her head broke through the water. Without the sun blinding his eyes Ali could see her clearly now. Her thick red hair danced around her with the tide, and her wide blue eyes were the same shade as the waves beneath her. Ali was fascinated by her complexion – he had never seen anyone so pale before. She looked like she was crafted from the finest porcelain, lovely and delicate.

The rest of her body remained hidden as she floated toward the shore. She hesitated by the edge of the sea, her brow creased with worry and her bottom lip held gently between her teeth. Ali could tell that she was very frightened. He wondered if she knew he was the prince. Maybe she thought she would receive the blame for the attack and, consequently, the punishment. That was not unheard of here in Agrabbah.

"Hey" he spoke softly, wanting to reassure her. "Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you." As she gazed at him the fear did not leave her eyes, but resolve joined it there. Her head dipped low for a moment, leaving only her hair floating above the water, writhing and twisting like bright red seaweed. In the next instant she propelled herself out of the water, landing close to Ali. She used her arms to drag her body further up the beach to sit beside him.

Ali was puzzled by her odd actions until he noticed that her legs were bound tightly together by a strange green fabric. Perhaps it was the traditional garb of a foreign culture. It didn't seem very practical to Ali, and he wondered how she managed to swim with such a restraint. She shifted her body and he caught a glimpse of what should have been her lower legs, but instead her form tapered into a…a _fin?!_

Before Ali could get a closer look, she had carefully rolled him onto his side, facing away from her, to begin unknotting the rope around his wrists. "What – What are you?" Ali asked undiplomatically, too stunned to find a politer way to phrase the question.

Her nimble fingers paused for a moment, hovering above his hands. Ali could almost feel her biting her lip again. "I'm a mermaid." She replied softly.

A mermaid. Ali vaguely remembered some of the myths bandied around about folk who were half human, half fish. Either the stories were true, or he had been hit on the head a lot harder than he'd thought.

"I've…never met a mermaid before" he responded out loud. She giggled a little. "And I've never met a human before." Her voice had a lyrical quality to it and Ali could hear her song pulsating beneath her words.

"What's your name?"

"Ariel"

"Ariel? That's kind of pretty." It was more than pretty, it was gorgeous and exotic, like her. He liked the way it bubbled over his tongue. "I'm Aladdin, you can call me Al." He surprised himself by using his given name, the one used amongst family and friends. Somehow he didn't feel right using his formal title with Ariel.

"Aladdin." His name must sound equally strange to her. The rope dropped to the sand and he sat up as Ariel moved to his feet. She made no move to start on the chain.

"Is something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no, it's just that I've never seen a…a feet? before."

"Foot" Aladdin corrected absentmindedly.

"Hm?"

"One foot, two feet" He wiggled his toes as he spoke.

She laughed "Oh, okay."

As she bent toward the shackle Aladdin asked "how did I end up I the ocean? How did you find me?"

Ariel's cheeks flushed a little. "Last night I saw flashing lights above the water and I was really, really curious…I went to the surface and saw bright colors swirling across the…the sky." She smiled recalling that marvelous event and Aladdin realized she was describing the fireworks. "Then I saw you and someone else on a – " Ariel struggle to find a way to describe these strange new events "-a thingamajig, floating across the sky. I'd never seen a human that close before, and I followed until you went to that big, big structure, the – is it a palace?" Aladdin nodded and she smiled, happy her guess had been correct. "And so I swam here, the nearest I could get to the palace, hoping to see you – I mean either of you" she amended, her blush deepening "again. I was about to give up when I saw some humans push you off that" she pointed to a tall cliff to their right. "So I pulled you to shore. It's a good thing you weren't any further out to sea – this thing is soooo heavy! Is it true that you can't breathe under water?"

"Yes, I would have died. Thank you, for saving my life."

"You're welcome." There was silence for a few moments, then: "Aladdin?"

"Yes?""

"I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can do this." Ariel apologized, staring concernedly at the links in her hands.

"Oh here, let me see that." Aladdin bent over and quickly jimmied the lock, sliding his ankles from the shackles. They felt badly bruised. He straightened and saw Ariel's raised eyebrows. "What?"

"You didn't need me at all, did you?"

"Well…." Aladdin grinned. Ariel glared at him briefly, but couldn't contain her laughter. Aladdin laughed too.

"You stinking sea serpent! I'm glad you did it though. I knew that humans- " she broke off midthought.

"Ariel? Humans don't even know that mer…merpeople?"

"Merfolk"

"…that merfolk exist. Is that how it is for you? Are humans some sort of fairytale in your world?"

"Um, not exactly."

"What does that mean?"

She glanced at him sheepishly "Well… some of the nicest words my father uses to talk about you guys are 'barbarians' and 'fish-eaters'."

"Oh." Though he didn't care for fish, Aladdin guiltily remembered the few occasions that he had eaten it.

"But I knew that humans couldn't all be that evil. I figured there had to be some good and some bad, just like merfolk. And it looks like I was right." She smiled at Aladdin, then frowned towards the sea. "I should go."

"Do you have to?"

"We're not even allowed to go above the surface. If daddy starts looking for me…"

"Can I see you again?"

Ariel looked at him with concern in her eyes. "I should say no, but…I do want to see you again, Aladdin."

"Don't say no, or I'll try to come find you and you'll just have to rescue me again." Ariel laughed at this. Aladdin grabbed her hand and spoke in earnest now "Please, can you meet me here tomorrow evening?"

Ariel nodded slowly. "I think so. I really have to go now." She began to inch her way to the receding tide line. Aladdin stopped her.

"Can I carry you?" He asked cautiously, hoping he wouldn't offend her. But he could see how tired she was and it pained him to see her struggle across the sand.

"You'll get wet" Ariel warned.

"I'm already wet!" Well, at least he had been. The sun had done a pretty good job of drying him out, but he didn't mind in the least. Ariel nodded her assent and Aladdin rose to his feet before gently lifting her. Her tail felt soft and smooth on his hand; her skin felt like silk.

When he was waist deep in the water he lowered his arms and regretfully loosened his hold. Ariel swam from his grasp, splashing wildly with her tail. "Hey!" Aladdin protested "you're soaking me!"

"I thought you were already wet" Ariel said slyly, an impish grin on her face. Aladdin groaned. "See you tomorrow, Aladdin!"

"Goodbye, Ariel." She vanished beneath the waves and Aladdin made his way back to shore. He sat on the warm sand until he was dry, and longer. He was loath to leave this place. He felt as if the magic would disappear once he left, or he would wake up from this dream. But the sun was getting low in the sky, and Jasmine would be worried about him. Jasmine. A riot of conflicting emotions welled up within him. Aladdin got to his feet. He would go see Jasmine now, but he would be back tomorrow.

And so would Ariel.


End file.
